


Damage Control

by kilojulietsierra



Category: Bright (2017)
Genre: Action, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, Gen, Investigations, Magic, Missing Persons, Mystery, Sexual Tension, Shield of Light, Strong Female Characters, pairing tbd, where is Tikka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 23:04:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15895944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kilojulietsierra/pseuds/kilojulietsierra
Summary: After the events of Bright the Shield of Light send one of their best problem solvers to clean up the mess. She’s used to her job being difficult, she only ever gets called in when shit’s gone so far south nobody else can save it. Critical Mission Failure is her specialty, but this time… she might be in over her head.





	Damage Control

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came out of nowhere and I couldn't help myself! Canon Typical Violence and Language. May or may not have a Character/OC pairing later but as of right now I down't know for sure. 
> 
> The Shield of Light has sent one of it's best Problem Solvers: Kora Carmichael to clean up the mess nobody else knows exists. More importantly, they sent her to find the answer to one simple question. Where is Tikka?

Chapter One

As soon as her boots hit the grimy, rubble strewn pavement Kora knew her day was ruined. She didn’t have much hope for the days to follow either. “Well, what the fuck happened here?”

Donovan walked around from the opposite side of the SUV, “A clusterfuck of epic proportions.” He finished of his bottle of Pepsi and after an unimpressed glance around his surroundings tossed it towards the curb to join the rest of the garbage. “Let’s deal with these jokers and get to work. Sooner we get this cleaned up the sooner we can get the fuck out of here.”

Kora took her own glance about and followed it up with an exasperated sigh, “Agreed.”

The jokers to which her partner referred stood on the opposite side of the street, staring at them from in front of what remained of the house at 341 Abrams. Kora had no more than lifted her foot to take the first step across the street than the three of them rushed to meet her. “Ms. Carmichael!”

Before the tiny blonde could say anything more Kora held up a hand, “I just spent more than 13 hours in the air and another hour coming through customs.” She focused on each of the three in turn. Setting them all with a cold, no bullshit stare, “You. Tiny. Tell me what happened.” Kora walked through the middle of the three with Donovan a step behind her.

‘Tiny’, as she had been nicknamed by Kora, took a quick stutter step to keep up with Koras long legged stride. “Okay, so, on the night of May tenth Los Angeles Police Department responded to a code…”

“CliffsNotes version TIny. Just play me the highlights reel.”

“Oh umm, okay. Cops responded to a disturbance call, report says they were fired upon, they exchanged fire and then entered the premises to do a final sweep. Feds responded just in time to see the explosion, wrote off as a gas line that got clipped in the gunfire.”

Kora and the group had stopped at the main entrance to the house, or at least what was left of it. “Uh huh. Why would one of our guys fire on a cop?" She craned her neck to look up at the missing ceiling. "One of the cops involved was the orc cop right?.” She looked over the burnt shell of the building then to the three that had come to meet them. All three silently nodding “Okay. Man Bun, what really happened?”

“My name is Seamus.” He griped, but answered the question nonetheless. “Not that anybody is telling us anything for certain, but our best guess: the bright, either Tikka or Leilah, maybe both got into an altercation with police and it didn’t go well.”

Everyone followed Kora into the ruins, watched as she picked her way through the charred remains, while she contemplated. When they came to the courtyard with the drained pool and burnt tree in the center she heaved a heavy sigh. “The wand? Tikka? Leilah?”

Nobody wanted to answer that question. Which was an answer in and of itself.

“So we lost the bright willing to work with us, the leader of an Inferni coven and the only wand we’ve seen in years?” She kicked a piece of floorboard and it clattered into the wall several feet away.

The group of three remained silent while Kora collected herself. Donovan the least concerned of all of them. His partners antics were not unexpected, “Who’s left?”

“The three of us.” The third member of the welcoming party spoke up for the first time, “Two others that have gone to ground and Serling, who is still locked up in a federal facility somewhere, we think.”

Kora walked a circle around the once sacred pool before she responded. “What’s your name?”

The young man looked at his companions and then back to Kora, “Shawn, ma’am.”

She nodded, “Okay, Shawn. You work on tracking down our missing people.” Kora traipsed back through the rubble and wreckage, speaking to them over her shoulder as she went. “Tiny, you and Donny are gonna find us a new safe house. Temporary. Here, in this neighborhood. And you, Man Bun.” She stopped just short of the dilapidated front door, paused in contemplation again with them all staring at her, “Go find us some pulled pork tacos. Flour shells, not corn. With two Pepsi’s.” 

Nobody said or did anything until Donovan added, “Large Pepsi’s. Soon would be good.”

Finally the three of them set off to do as they were told. Man Bun, Seamus, muttering under his breath.

Donovan and Kora stood side by side, just inside the threshold of what had been one of their most well hidden, well manned and well supplied safe houses in the U.S. Kora pulled a pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket and lit one. “One hell of a mess they expect us to clean up.” She let a cloud of smoke roll out the door and back into the late afternoon sun before immediately taking in a second drag. This one she inhaled completely.

Next to her, her partner nodded. “If it was easy they wouldn’t send us.” They stood there for a few moments while Kora smoked. Until something caught Donovans attention across the street. “Visitors.”

“I see ‘em.” Kora inhaled more of her cigarette, “Find out who they are.” She pulled her sunglasses from the front of her shirt and slipped them on as she stepped back out onto the sidewalk.

“What are you gonna do?” Donny followed after her as she stepped into the street.

“Find out where they’re holding Serling.”

~~~~~~~

Kandomere gave a slight pause as she opened the door to his office, but he didn’t let on that he had noticed right away. Not until he had the door securely closed behind him and his suit jacket hung on its hook. He could see her just fine as it was, but he flipped the light switch anyway.

A young woman was sitting in his chair, behind his desk. Long legs resting on the corner, toe of one of her heeled boots bouncing dangerously close to a stack of files placed on the edge of his desk. He noticed something strange about her. More than one something. The most obvious of which was a dark discoloration over the bridge of her nose, over part of her brow and under her right eye. Most of it was covered by a pair of large, mirrored, aviator sunglasses. “There’s no smoking in federal buildings. If you plan on making a habit of sneaking up on people you should consider giving up the habit.”

“You’re probably right. It’s a bad habit to have.” She took another puff and seemed to enjoy it immensely. “But, it kind of comes with the territory. My partner, that kid cracks a Red Bull before I’ve had my first cup of coffee. Mtn. Dew, Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper… breakfast, lunch and dinner.” She paused for another drag. “Then there’s your partner, everyone knows what his nasty little habit is. Doing what we do, we need something to get us through the day and the long nights. We all have one. Don’t we Kandomere? Of course, I don’t keep mine a secret like some people.” Kora finished her cigarette and snubbed it out on the sole of her boot. She examined the cigarette butt for a moment before she tossed it on his desk.

All Kandomere did was stand with his hands in his pockets and stare at her, blank and cold. He watched her carefully, scrutinized her, and then took a deep breath. He caught something else strange about her, something hiding underneath the cigarette smoke. “No, but you aren’t without your secrets either, it seems. Now, who are you and what do you want?”

“You know something I’ve always wondered. Why do people ask questions they already know the answers to? Are they hoping we surprise them and tell the truth or are they hoping to catch us in a lie?”

His eyes were drawn to the 99 cent lighter she twirled between her fingers. “Alright. I knew your people would send somebody. Now, here you are.”

“Here I am.” The lighter continued to spin. “Where’s Serling?”

WIth a silent chuckle Kandomere moved a few paces to his left. “Coming back for one of your own? How Gallant. Here I was certain you had come for the Bright.”

Now she chuckled, but didn’t cover it as he had. The lighter stopped spinning. “Come on, we both know you don’t have any clue where she is.” A smile spread across her face. One that even gave Kandomere reason to pause. “But, we will find her. If you help me now, then when we do find her I will be sure to let you know.”

“You’ll give me TIkka in exchange for your sword wielding comrade?”

“Not a fucking chance!” She laughed outright this time and took a minute to light another cigarette. “But, if you take me to see my ‘sword wielding comrade’ I can make sure you get any relevant information she gives us when we do find her.”

Another cloud of smoke began to fill his office, just when he was so close to figuring out what was off about this woman. Her bargain was intriguing. “Not just information. I want to speak to her myself.”

The silence between them was thicker than the stench of the cigarette smoke. Neither of them moved. All Kandomere could do was stare at his own reflection in her sunglasses. At least, until she finally moved, kicking her feet up and over the precarious pile of paperwork to set her boots on the floor with a thud. “I can live with that.”

“Alright then. I will take you to see him. FIrst thing tomorrow morning.”

She stood, but stayed behind his desk. “How about we go now?”

He couldn’t look away from the dark splotch of skin that stood out in a stark contrast to her pale skin and ink black hair. “These things take time. Some of us have to go through proper channels to get what we want.”

“Ha, now that’s funny.” She dropped her second cigarette butt on his desk and stepped around, walking to the office door. There she paused and dropped a piece of paper in the pocket of his jacket on the hook, “I’ll be anxiously waiting for your call.” With one hand on the doorknob she paused. With the other she pulled off her sunglasses. “And since you’re wondering it’s called Large Congenital Melanocytic Nevus.” With a mirthless smile she slipped her glasses back on and opened the door, “We can’t all be born perfect.”

~~~~~~~


End file.
